Is it pretentious to use "brava!' instead of "bravo!"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It reads and looks wrong so don't do it.

And no one will think you are being pretentious, they will just assume you didn't know any better and will correct you over and over.

No, it doesn't. When used in reference to a woman, it reads and looks just right to me. I wouldn't lower yourself to the common denominator, OP. Use brava. It's not pretentious to use it correctly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We should all know when to use brava, bravo and bravi.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

How in the world is this pretentious? It's correct, so use it if you want. It won't sound at all strange to the ears of most people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Once, when I was young and naive, I tried to convince a bunch of my (very educated) senior colleagues that we must use "fora" instead of "forums" when talking about the various sessions available at a large conference. They all rolled their eyes at me. It's not that they didn't know the plural of "forum". It's that certain rules of Latin and other non-English grammar are suspended in common use, and to insist on the correct use as if your Latin teacher was grading you is, well, pretentious. I have come around to seeing it their way. I haven't forgotten what is correct, I have just accepted the conventions.

This is a good point. Ack, every time I think of the word "brava," I think of idiotic hollywood types saying it. I could never figure out why it bothered me, because it is, of course, correct. But I think the PP above nailed it. If you eschew the common conventions for the correct, you draw attention to the fact that you know it and assume that others don't.

But....OP, what if you use "bravo," and someone ELSE corrects YOU? I agree with a PP -- choose another word.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It reads and looks wrong so don't do it.

And no one will think you are being pretentious, they will just assume you didn't know any better and will correct you over and over.

No, it doesn't. When used in reference to a woman, it reads and looks just right to me. I wouldn't lower yourself to the common denominator, OP. Use brava. It's not pretentious to use it correctly.

It used to be pretentious to use "bravo". Now it is trite. Updating it by using the correct gender restores the word to its former pretentious state.

[iluvmeconspiracy]

Anonymous wrote:I am writing reports for some people I manage. I am giving commendations to a few women and while I know that technically, if female, the word brava applies instead of bravo, I wonder if following the letter of that rule is pretentious? Also, I worry that people who may not be familiar with that technicality will think I had a typo or got the word wrong.

Thoughts from the gallery? TIA.

I'm used to it, but then again, that's my upbringing.

To one, it's brava. To a group (should you be complimenting a team), it's brave.

[Anonymous]

...and while we're speaking Itailian, if you order one, it's a panino. If you order several, it's panini. But I think thy battle was lost long ago.

[Anonymous]

I like it and would LOVE to see it on my evaluation!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like it and would LOVE to see it on my evaluation!

brava, PP!

brava!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like it and would LOVE to see it on my evaluation!

+1

[Anonymous]

This is one of those things that you don't mind if you already like the person, but if you don't like the person, it's one more reason to not like the person saying 'brava.'

And I understand that all-women colleges are VERY particular about using alumna(e).

[Anonymous]

Just please don't use "awesome," either as an adjective or as an epithet. It's trite, overused, and sophmoric.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard anyone say either bravo or brava in a work setting.

[Anonymous]

neither bravo nor brava. Use bravissima or bravissimo!

[Anonymous]

yes